Ange Postecoglou says Celtic must continue overcoming any obstacles on their route to victory - revealing he's made a 'conscious decision' not to comment on VAR.
The Premiership champions restored a nine point lead over Rangers at the league summit with a hard-earned 2-0 success at Tannadice. After a goalless opening 45 minutes, Jota's header and an Aaron Mooy penalty secured the visitors' win.
Celtic were initially awarded a spot-kick in the first period when United keeper Mark Birighitti collided with Kyogo Furuhashi, only for referee Don Robertson to reverse his decision after checking the pitchside VAR monitor. Postecoglou's side did eventually get a penalty for handball against Kieran Freeman, but the Celtic manager was reticent to share his view on the first incident.
He told BBC Sportsound: "I made a conscious decision a few weeks back not to, sort of...
"All I can do is control what my team does and the football we play. We’ve got to make sure we keep playing the football we are, and put the result beyond anything that can interfere with that. That’s what the lads were doing.
“[It was tough] to a certain extent, I thought we handled it well in difficult conditions. They were really disciplined in their structure, particularly in the first-half they worked really hard to plug the gaps we were trying to create.
“Having said that, we still got behind them on a number of occasions. We missed that final touch and quality. We started the second half really well, scored a couple goals could have scored a couple more. A really strong performance.
"Jota is getting back to fitness and the levels we know he can get to. Aaron [Mooy] has been outstanding since the break. In general, our defensive work was outstanding in terms of our pressure. We didn't allow them many sights on goals and that allows us to play our football.”
The fixture marked Celtic captain Callum McGregor’s 400th appearance for the club – and Postecoglou insists he still approaches every game like it’s his first.
"I know I dismissed it (the 400 game mark) before the game,” the maanger said. “But I said to the lads in there that they've got to appreciate they're sharing a dressing room with a special individual. He'll go down as a legend of this club. The biggest compliment I can pay him is he plays every game like it's his debut, as if he has everything to prove. He's done it all here in Scotland. It's a credit to him and his family."
